The Girls Take Over The Skate Park
Released this May, the HBO original show Betty (2020) centers around a diverse group of five teenage girls who form a lasting friendship born from their shared love for skateboarding. With the summer days getting longer and longer in the city that never sleeps, we follow this pack of betties as they navigate through the many obstacles life throws at them. Whether it be confronting the toxic masculinity of boys at the skatepark, or figuring out how to gather enough bail money after a night gone bad, Betty is a story that girls of all ages can in some way resonate with.
In this six episode series, Betty explores many important themes that are relevant to Gen Z today. Along with the subject of friendship, the show highlights the power of sisterhood and women supporting each other. In the male-dominated world of skateboarding, it can feel terrifying to go out into the skatepark alone, in fear of judgement and criticism from the boys. Betty empowers girls to not be afraid of doing what they love and encourages us all to find our own group of betties that we can count on, and who’ll have our back. Additionally, we see the girls tackle relationships; Honeybear shyly pursues Ash, Camille realizes the feelings are not reciprocated with the guy she likes, and Janay realizes her best friend is not the person she thought he was. Love can be complicated, with its ups and downs, and Betty shows the reality of this. Overall, the series inspires its audience to support one another and never sugarcoats the obstacles that come with forming authentic relationships.
Through the raw, stunning cinematography, as well as the dreamy soundtrack, we are able to connect and get a deeper perspective into the lives and personalities of each of the five girls: Janay, Kurt, Honeybear, Indigo, and Camille.
Janay
We start the show off in the eyes of Janay. She is quite stubborn, but in a headstrong and loyal way. She is the one who initially gets the girl gang together, and I would consider her to be the rock of the group. The actress who plays Janay, Dede Lovelace, states; “She (Janay) understands the importance of women supporting one another.” In the first episode, Janay ventures across New York to help Camille - who she was not yet close with - find her stolen backpack. She also confronts her best friend, Donald, for sexually assaulting another girl. While at first, Janay accuses the girl for even coming up with such a lie, she later has a one-on-one talk with her and comes to wholly stand by her side, also revealing that Donald once sexually assaulted her too. Ultimately, Janay is a strong-willed character who will always have your back.
Kurt
Kurt was the first girl on board with Janay’s idea of forming an all-girl skate sesh. She is quite the charmer with the ladies and brings the energy wherever she goes. Admittedly, there are times when her childlike spirit and dramatic nature have gotten the best of her, like when she threw a skateboard through a window, leading to her friends getting arrested for her bad behavior (yeah… not her brightest moment). However she truly has a big heart and cares for these girls. The great thing about Kurt is that she is never afraid to be her quirky, rat-loving, authentic self.
Honeybear
Honeybear is more of the reserved, keep-all-to-herself type. She lives somewhat of a double life; dressed in khakis and cardigans while at home, in contrast to the flamboyant unbuttoned tops and shorts she wears on the streets of New York. Throughout the show, we see Honeybear struggle with opening up to others, such as garnering up the courage to talk to Ash, the cute skater chick she likes. Rather than being on camera, she likes to be the one behind the lens as she captures her friends skating around the city. While Honeybear can be quite the mystery upon meeting her, she pays close attention to the world around her.
Indigo
When Indigo is first introduced, she knows nothing about skateboarding. But with a little practice and the guidance of the betties, she is able to pick up her speed and ride right alongside them. She emanates a nonchalant and cool vibe, sporting tennis skirts and bleached eyebrows, while selling weed vape pens as her side hustle. It isn’t until midway through the show that we learn of Indigo’s rich girl roots when she ventures up to Soho to obtain her weekly allowance from her mom. The reason for keeping this part of her life a secret is to prevent anyone from making any firsthand judgements about her true character. In general, Indigo just wants to have fun and make some ride-or-die friends without any excess drama.
Camille
I’ll be honest, I had second thoughts about Camille. Before she joined the betties, she was more focused on proving her worthiness to the other skater boys than being a true friend with the girls. Rachel Vinberg, who plays Camille, describes her character; “She just wants to be like them and ‘in’ with them, but not really feeling connected to them on a friendship level.” However, Camille soon learns her lesson after being stood up by one of the guys, and joins the betties once and for all. This minor misstep aside, Camille is a talented skater who is known for shredding it up at the skatepark. In fact, she could most definitely out-skate any of the other guys. Moreover, Camille reveals that she takes her style inspiration from the iconic Charlie Chaplin, as seen through her typical clothing choice of slacks and button-up tops.
What’s so extraordinary about the cast of Betty is that these girls were not originally actors, but actual skaters who were discovered by chance on the G train in Brooklyn, New York. Director Crystal Moselle was charmed by a conversation she overheard between Nina Moran (Kurt) and Rachelle Vinberg (Camille), and decided to approach them about being a part of a film project. Ultimately, this interaction would lead to the group of girls forming a skate collective called ‘Skate Kitchen’. You can still find them posting skate tricks and invitations to all girls skate seshes on Instagram. Who would have thought it? Additionally, many of the events in the show are based on the real lives of this girl gang, making for a truly authentic story that many girls can relate to. It’s refreshing to see a cast who are just like everyone else: just some girls riding on skateboards, who you might pass in the street. We get to vicariously experience their imperfect lives and the hardships these girls face daily. Also, with the show being filmed almost like a documentary, it’s as though we, the viewers, are just peeking into the real, normal lives of the Skate Kitchen.
Prior to the creation of Betty, director Moselle had created her initial film Skate Kitchen (2018), which stars the majority of the HBO series’ cast. Due to the film’s success, HBO decided to produce the spin-off series that we know as Betty. While the two projects have similar key elements within the plot and characters, Betty explores in more depth and detail, the lives of each member in the Skate Kitchen. Skate Kitchen primarily follows the introverted Camille and her journey in understanding the true meaning of friendship. Though featuring the same group of girl skateboarders, the movie also portrays the tense relationship between Camille and her mother as she is told to not skate anymore after a serious skateboarding injury. Alongside this, Skate Kitchen only briefly touches on certain characters, for example Ruby - renamed Honeybear in Betty - who mostly appears in the background with camera in hand. That isn’t to say that you shouldn’t watch Skate Kitchen - it is still an amazing film that deserves a watch, especially if you can’t get enough of the HBO original series, like myself.
Ever since I binge-watched the six-episode series back in May, I couldn’t stop thinking about the lovable Skate Kitchen collective. Everything about them is so effortlessly cool; Betty has left me wishing I could be a part of something even remotely close to what these girls created. From beginning to end I laughed, cried, and felt empowered about what Betty showed girls we are capable of. No matter how many times a guy tells us girls that we can’t do something, that should never stop us from doing what we love - skateboarding included. Also, I’m not going to lie, Betty did make me want to learn how to skateboard. I haven’t gotten around to actually buying a board, nevermind learning any tricks, but I have been watching girls skateboarding on TikTok nonstop, if that counts for anything. Once I gain enough motivation to get out of the house - when the side effects of quarantine-itis have subsided - there is no doubt that I’ll finally live out my Skate Kitchen dreams. In the meantime, I’ll be at home patiently waiting for Season Two and falling asleep to the soothing score of Betty.